Once Four, Now Two
by Write4Kittens
Summary: What if Adrien had grown up with a loving family? What if Adrien had an older brother named Félix who had loved Adrien with all his heart? What if Félix was the Chat Noir before Adrien?


**Kind of based off this (** **post/139468457582/ill-do-anything-to-protect-my-little-brother-my)** **on tumblr.** **Special thanks to hella-helena on tumblr for being my awesome beta-reader!** **Without her, this would never have gotten published.** **Enjoy!**

* * *

Everyone knew that Adrien Agreste was a model. If they dug a little deeper, they would know that Adrien Agreste was the son of the famous fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste. Then, if they dug even deeper, they would know that Adrien Agreste had recently joined the Françoise Dupont high school. They would know that he was a perfect student and received perfect grades, even while any spare time he had was taken up by modeling, fencing, piano, or private Chinese lessons.

What they would never know was that Adrien Agreste once had a brother. And that his brother's name had been Félix.

Once upon a time, before becoming famous, Gabriel Agreste had been a happy man. He lived with his wife and two sons in a modest house out on the outskirts of Paris, and even though they didn't have much money, he was content. He was married to the most beautiful woman in the world and was pleased to say that both of his sons had inherited her golden hair and startling green eyes.

Back then, Gabriel was still perfecting his fashion designs and trying to find someone to sponsor them. He worked on them every day, but they didn't bring in any money. Yet. Therefore, his wife had to support their family on the wage she got from working at the nearest _lycee_. It was barely enough to cover the house and put food on the table, but Gabriel promised that one day, his designs would bring in so much money that everyone could have a room the size of their house. He even promised Adrien an arcade, basketball hoop, _and_ a skateboard ramp in his room. Little Adrien would clap his hands together and jump up and down, giggling about how awesome his room would be. He wouldn't even have to share with Félix anymore!

Because Gabriel's wife had to head out early to the lycee she worked at, she wasn't able to walk the boys to their school. So every morning Gabriel took Félix's small hand in his left and Adrien's even smaller hand in his right, and walked them down the street to their school. He never minded doing this because it meant that he got to spend time with his bouncing ball of energy that was Adrien, and his somewhat more reserved Félix. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he watched Félix roll his eyes at Adrien's endless prattle.

One morning on their walk to school, the mouth-watering smell of baking bread washed over the three of them as they passed an open door. A handwritten sign taped to the window read _Grand Opening_ in flowing cursive, while just under the sign, numerous pastries and cookies were on display. Adrien could only see the first shelf, but on it was the biggest chocolate chip cookie he'd ever seen. It had to be at least the size of his head! Even Félix was looking longingly at one of the macaroons.

Adrien, being the more outspoken one, tugged his father's hand. "Father, can we _please_ get something?" he begged.

Gabriel hated how big Adrien's green eyes got and how Félix was also watching him expectantly. _One day,_ he silently promised his sons. _One day I'll have enough money to buy you all the desserts you want_. Instead, he had to shake his head. "I'm sorry, but not today," he told them, wishing he couldn't see the dejected drop of their shoulders. "Come on. We're almost at your school."

None of them saw the little girl with blue pigtails watching them from inside the bakery. She was hoping that they would come inside to buy a delicious treat because she didn't like how sad the two boys looked, especially the younger one. Whenever people came into her parents' bakery, they always left with a smile. When they didn't walk inside, she poked her head out the door to watch them continue their walk down the street, a little frown plaguing her cute face.

"Marinette! It's time to leave for school! You don't want to forget your backpack again, do you?" A petite Chinese women walked over to the little girl, holding a very pink backpack. With a squeal, the girl with blue pigtails ran to her mother and grabbed her backpack, forgetting about the three strangers.

Adrien and Félix never asked for a treat from the bakery again. Every morning they walked past it, and every morning the heavenly smell of freshly baked bread hit their noses. As they walked past, they wished that they were one of the people flooding in the doors to buy something.

* * *

A few years later, Gabriel got a job working as an assistant to a major fashion designing company. Since he'd gotten the job, life for the Agreste family had changed dramatically. They now had at least twice, maybe even three times as much money than they ever had before, but it came with a price.

Gabriel Agreste became obsessed with his work. He never talked about anything else or took time to listen to Adrien and Félix. It took all the power of persuasion his wife possessed to get him to have dinners with his family instead of in his office or with his co-workers. And he never walked Adrien and Félix to school anymore.

Exactly a year after Gabriel had gotten the job as an assistant, he announced that he was starting his own company. He was gone all the time, and nothing his wife said could make him stay. Every day he disappeared from the house before Adrien and Félix left for school, and every night he didn't arrive home until both of them had gone to bed.

Even though he tried not to notice, Félix watched as his mother drew into herself. Her hair lost its glow and even her smiles lacked the warmth they normally had. She was upset with herself about Gabriel and frustrated that she couldn't do anything about his obsession with his work. Félix also pretended that he didn't hear her sobbing in her room at night. She tried to take care of Adrien and Félix. But it was hard to take care of an eight-year-old and a twelve-year-old alone. Some nights she just couldn't do it.

As their mother kept spending more and more time out of the house, Félix had taken to looking after Adrien himself. He made sure Adrien brushed his teeth in the morning and did his homework at night. When Adrien was sad, Félix told him horrible puns to make him laugh.

Everything changed, once again, when Gabriel came home one night. It was one of the nights his wife was home, and coincidentally, a night that she had decided to make a fancy dinner. Adrien was practically drooling at the thought of something more than noodles and butter, which was all Félix knew how to cook.

Gabriel was still wearing his suit and tie, and Adrien couldn't remember what he looked like without it. But he didn't particularly care; he was enjoying the real food on this plate.

But Félix noticed that something was wrong. His father hadn't come home to a dinner in six months, so why now?

Dinner was quiet. Everyone but Adrien was staring at their food and just picking at it.

Finally, Gabriel cleared his throat, causing everyone to look at him. His eyes, once warm and cheery, were now hard and cold as they met the three pairs of green ones watching him. "We're moving," he stated coolly. "I bought us a house at the base of the Eiffel Tower. We'll be moving out tomorrow."

"It's finals week, Father. We can't just drop everything," Félix protested.

"I'm aware of that. That is why I've made the choice that you and Adrien will be homeschooled. I've picked out the best tutors in Paris for you."

Suddenly, his wife stood up so quickly that her chair fell over. Both Adrien and Félix jumped. "You can't do that," she shouted, her eyes blazing. "You're not the only parent here! I have as much say over what happens to this family, over what happens to Adrien and Félix, as you do!"

Across the table, Félix noticed that Adrien's eyes were getting the glassy look that appeared before he started crying. Ducking under the table, Félix pulled Adrien down with him, and the two brothers crawled to the door and ran up to their room. Félix spent the night telling Adrien stories, trying to drown out the sound of their parents' yelling.

In the morning their mother was gone.

In the morning Adrien found a note and brought it to Félix.

In the morning both Félix and Adrien were pulled from school.

In the morning the remaining members of the Agreste family moved into a mansion that was too big for two half grown boys and a father who was never there.

In the morning, Félix read the note that said "I'm sorry. I just couldn't take it anymore."

* * *

Both Adrien and Félix got their own separate rooms in the huge mansion. For the first few days, Adrien was super excited about his huge room with a skateboard ramp, a basketball hoop, a huge TV, _and_ an arcade. But that was when he had still been happy, bubbly Adrien, the Adrien who would never stop talking, the Adrien who would smile at everything.

That had been when Adrien still believed that their mother was coming home.

It was probably selfish for him to let Adrien believe that, but Félix didn't want to lose his effervescent baby brother. Not just yet. Félix knew that when he'd read the note, a part of him had changed. Ever since their father had gotten that job and began to distance himself from his family, Felix had noticed the feeling of bitter resentment starting to cloud any thoughts he had about his father. Each day that his father was gone, each day that he ignored the smile that broke across Adrien's face each time he walked into the room, that resentment grew. Knowing that he had made their mother leave, too, was the last straw. But however much he wanted to go yell at his father and demand that he pay attention to his children, he held himself back.

Somehow, Adrien still believed that their father cared about them, just as he believed that their mother was coming back. Felix couldn't ruin that for him because as soon as Adrien stopped believed, he would change, just as Felix had. So for now, Felix could pretend that he was happy, and that everything was okay. Felix could pretend for Adrien, and even if their mother couldn't stand living with Gabriel any longer, Felix would do it. Anything for his brother.

But he could only tell Adrien that their mother was coming back for so long. Adrien was almost eleven by now, old enough to understand that when your mother is gone for six months, that means she doesn't have plans to return.

So Félix watched Adrien change, too. He watched the talkative Adrien that he had known forever retreat into a reserved Adrien that was foreign to Félix. Felix had always been reserved, but Adrien had made up for it by giving everyone smiles bright enough for both of them. Who would smile for them now?

Adrien let his school work consume him; that's all he let himself focus on. When his father offered him lessons in piano and Chinese, he snatched up the offer quickly. He needed something more to distract him. He was only eleven, but he knew that if he let himself think of how his father had changed, how his mother had left them, of how much _he_ had changed in so little time he would break. He couldn't break. He had to keep it together for Félix.

They lived like that for a year. Adrien and Félix studied hard and sometimes rewarded themselves by going out together to get gelato. Whenever one brother was feeling lonely, the other would sneak into his bedroom and climb into the much too big bed. Most nights they preferred to share a bed than sleep alone in a room that was as big as their old house.

Just when things had started to become routine, everything changed again. But this time, only Félix knew about it.

It was the middle of a perfectly normal night. Adrien and Félix had eaten dinner alone at a table big enough to seat twenty. The meal had been prepared by professional cooks, something that happened for every meal now, but Adrien would have given anything to go back and eat his brother's noodles and butter. The brothers had finished their homework and studying, and both climbed into Félix's bed. Both of them had tests the next day, but something was keeping Félix from falling asleep. He could hear Adrien softly snoring next to him he stared at shadows on the ceiling that were cast by the light of the Eiffel Tower.

Suddenly, a green flash broke through the gloom, flooding the room in an eerie green light for only a moment before it plunged back into an even darker black than before. Unable to see anything but shadows thanks to the mysterious light, Félix slowly sat up and scanned the room. "Who's there?" he whispered. His eyes strained to make out a shape in the darkness but he couldn't see anything. Until…

There!

A tiny shadow, barely perceptible in the darkness, was floating toward Adrien's sleeping form. A fierce protectiveness flowed through Félix at the unknown threat, and he threw off the covers. "Get away from my brother!"

Grabbing the first thing he could find—a stick that Adrien had found at the park yesterday—Félix swung it where he had thought he saw the shadow a moment before. It connected with a satisfying _twack_ and sent it spiraling to the opposite side of the room.

"Ow, ow, ow! What was that for, kid?" the shadow groaned.

Félix squinted in the direction the voice had come from and thought he could make out something that was maybe the size of his hand, with… were those cat ears?

"What are you?"

"The name's Plagg and I need your help. I was aiming for your brother but since you two have practically the same energy, I think you'll do fine."

Adrien shifted in his sleep and Félix shushed the creature—Plagg. "Don't wake him up. And I'm not interested in whatever you need. Get out of my room."

Plagg zipped closer to Félix's face, dodging the stick with ease. He really did look like a miniature cat. "Hear me out. Paris is going to need a Chat Noir soon. Or else people will get hurt. Innocent people… like your brother."

That made Félix freeze. "Keep Adrien out of this," he said in a low voice. "I don't care what you do, just keep him out. He didn't do anything."

"Relax, kid. _I'm_ not going to be the one hurting your precious brother. But Hawkmoth will if you don't help me. I've traced him to Paris and sooner rather than later, he's going to start sending out evil butterflies to random civilians. If you don't help stop him, he could hurt your brother."

"How can I help you? I'm just a normal teenager."

"Ah, but that's where I come in. You put this on," another flash of green light, and the shadow was holding a silver ring, "say a few choice words, and then you become Chat Noir! Superhero of Paris, known for his strikingly good-looking cat ears and handsome kwami!"

Félix frowned. "And what's a kwami?"

"Why, that's what I am, of course. The most handsomest kwami you're ever going to meet."

"Great," Félix rolled his eyes. "And when do I get to stop being this Chat Noir or whatever?"

"When you die—"

"What?!"

"—or whenever you get tired of it. Just give me a heads up so I can have time to find your replacement."

Félix poked the kwami in the chest. "First rule, _Plagg_. There is no talk about death. This is not something I choose to do and Adrien will always be my first priority. I don't care what this butterfly guy does to Paris, so long as my brother is safe. Got it?"

Plagg huffed indignantly and rubbed his chest. "Fine. But does this mean you'll do it?"

"What do I have to do?"

* * *

If people in Paris looked to the rooftops that night, they would have seen a dark shape with cat ears and a belt tail jumping from roof to roof. He may have fallen a few times, but after slipping off a three story house, he made sure to never do it again.

The first akuma attack was a week later, during Félix's lunch break. After transforming in his room, he jumped out the window and after the akuma.

That was the first time he met the small girl in a red and black spotted suit who called herself Ladybug. She had to have been at least two heads shorter than him, and was probably around Adrien's age.

She smiled shyly up at him. "My kwami told me that we need to look for an item that the akuma is in so that I can cleanse it. The akuma should come out once we break the item."

Félix, as Chat Noir, nodded. "Alright. Let's do this… Ladybug, you said?"

She nodded.

"I'm… Chat Noir."

"Nice to meet you, Chat Noir."

With some difficulty, they managed to get the item off the possessed person, and Ladybug cleansed the purple butterfly. The person was returned back to normal and so was all the damage done. After seeing that everything was safe, Félix apologized, saying that he needed to leave, and hurried to get home. Thankfully, no one missed him. This time. He wasn't sure what he was going to do when an akuma attack happened while he was in class, or at dinner with Adrien.

Somehow Félix managed to balance his normal life with being Chat Noir. Plagg was annoying because Félix had to sneak food to him all the time, but everything worked out. He became very good with making up excuses on the fly, even though people might've thought that he had an exceptionally small bladder nowadays.

The more battles Ladybug and Chat Noir fought, the more they got the hang of the superhero thing. They figured out that they could use powers such as "Lucky Charm" and "Cataclysm" to help them, and Félix noted that even though Ladybug was young, she could take care of herself. It still never hurt to keep his eye out for her, though.

Ladybug and Chat Noir became celebrities in Paris. At first people were wary about them, but eventually, they understood that they were just protecting them from the akumas. Sometimes they were invited to public shows and various awards in their honor, and sometimes Ladybug, Chat Noir, or both of them would show up.

Almost two years passed like this. Adrien got a modeling job with their father's company, an offer that Félix declined due to his secret job as Chat Noir. Adrien was busy almost all the time now. They still preferred to share a room, but due to their conflicting schedules, that didn't happen as much as it had the first year.

And Adrien had changed so much. He was so polite and formal and so quiet that Félix sometimes didn't recognize his little brother. He missed the loud, silly boy who gaped at chocolate chip cookies the size of his head. Due to his modeling career, Adrien almost never ate sweets anymore, even though Félix knew how much he loved them.

Félix decided to test something out one week. It had been a tiring week for both of them. Félix had been gone three nights due to akuma attacks, and Adrien had been to early morning photoshoots every morning. Sitting down together at the dinner table, this had been on the first times Félix had seen Adrien all week.

"Hey, Adrien," Félix said casually. "What do you call a big pile of cats?"

Adrien looked up from his food. "I don't know. What?"

"A _meow_ -tain!"

To Félix's dismay, instead of laughing and replying with another stupid pun, all Adrien did was give him that polite smile and say "That's funny, Félix."

It'd been months since Adrien and Félix shared a room. They didn't talk very much anymore, even though Félix still made sure that Adrien was eating. Looking out for Adrien was not something that Félix would ever be able to stop doing.

Adrien was the only reason Félix still became Chat Noir everytime there was an akuma attack, and the only reason he tolerated Plagg. Well, Ladybug might have had something to do with it, too. She was still too young to be out there by herself. The red and black spotted girl had become like a little sister to Félix. He couldn't imagine life without Adrien any more than he could imagine life without her.

* * *

It happened two weeks after Félix tried to get Adrien to laugh at his stupid cat pun over dinner. Plagg had warned Félix that he was the embodiment of bad luck. Ladybug was good luck; Chat Noir was bad luck. It was bound to happen sometime. But even before Plagg, Félix's life had been unlucky.

It started out as a normal akuma attack. The akumatized person yelling at Chat Noir to give them his miraculous, him refusing, and then them going on an angry rampage, shooting something at him and every random civilian in site. Ladybug wasn't there yet, so Chat Noir was on his own to dodge the shooting light that turned everyone it touched into porcupines. He tried to spot which item the akuma would be in, so that when Ladybug _did_ arrive, they could end it quickly and he could go home.

He wasn't supposed to run into a quill as long and sharp as a spear. It wasn't supposed to pierce him in the stomach. And he most definitely wasn't supposed to keep his injury after the battle was done.

All the blood drained from Ladybug's face when she saw the quill-spear sticking out of him. She didn't wait to call Lucky Charm. It gave her a spotted camera with a large circular flash on it to blind the porcupine man before she could snatch up the man's lucky quill and snap it in two. The akuma fluttered out, and Ladybug swung her yo-yo, capturing the purple butterfly and successfully cleansing it. Throwing the camera into the air, Ladybug shouted her signature "Miraculous Ladybug!" and Félix watched as the quill disappeared. Without it pinning him to the wall, he dropped to his knees with a groan.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug cried and ran over to him. Her earrings were beeping but she didn't care. Gently, she helped him to his feet. "Are you okay? Did it heal you?"

He looked down at his stomach, but there was no gaping hole. "I think so…"

Her earrings beeped again.. "I need to go. Will you be okay?"

"Thanks to you, I will." He gave her a smile. "See you later, little bug."

Félix watched her swing away. He was about to find a place to transform back when a coughing fit had him doubling over, clutching his stomach. Nausea rolled over him and he ground his teeth together, fighting the urge to vomit. He could feel the drying blood caked to his suit, but there was no hole. Ladybug had healed him… but only on the outside.

Félix's arms felt like lead and they refused to let go of their hold around his middle. Wordlessly, he touched his forehead to the rough brick of the wall. Sweat dripped down his face, but he ignored it.

"She didn't heal me completely, did she?," Félix said softly.

 _I'm sorry, kid… You don't have much longer left._ Plagg actually sounded upset, and Félix let a smile cross his lips.

"It was worth it, Plagg. Thank you…For everything." With a grunt, Félix pushed off of the wall, and started his trek home. "Will you… watch after Adrien when I'm… when I'm gone?"

 _Of course._

It was painful walking home, but somehow Félix made it to the Agreste mansion before he either collapsed or transformed back. Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about trailing blood up the pristine stairs as he made his way to Adrien's room. He didn't knock so much as collapse against the door.

"Félix?" Adrien asked, and then gasped as his brother fell into arms. Unable to support his heavier brother for long, Adrien gently sat on the floor, Félix's head in his lap. "Félix, what happened?" he whispered.

"I've been keeping a secret from you, Adrien," Félix managed to say. "I'm…I'm Chat Noir. And something went horribly wrong during today's fight."

Only for a second did Adrien's expression showed the hurt he felt at his brother's secret before worry immediately replaced it. "What happened?" he repeated, scanning Félix's body for injury.

"I'm—" Félix paused to cough, his hand coming away covered in blood again. "I'm hurt. A huge quill got stuck in me and I think I have a hole somewhere inside of me that shouldn't be there."

"No," Adrien cried. "There has to be something we can do. We can take you to the hospital, or something. Félix, no!"

"I'm sorry, Adrien. It's only inside of me. Doctors can't do anything."

"Félix…"

"I have something I want to give you. Plagg said it was okay." Félix brought his hands up and removed the ring he had worn every day since the night Plagg gave it to him. He grabbed Adrien hands and slipped it onto his finger.

"What—"

"I want you to be the next Chat Noir."

"But Félix—"

Félix closed his eyes as his breathing got more labored. "Ladybug needs you. She's good but she needs her Chat Noir. You'll be great at it, Adrien. And… it would be an escape. Our father has changed so much and he's forced us to change with him… I want you to smile again, Adrien. Not that polite smile you wear all the time now, but… grin, laugh, make puns… be yourself."

Adrien was crying but he didn't care. "Félix, you can't leave me. Don't leave me like Mom did. Like Father did. I don't want to be Chat Noir. I want to be with _you."_

It was hard to breathe but Félix forced his eyes open, forced himself to look into his brother's green eyes swimming with tears. "Promise me, Adrien… promise me… that you won't stop smiling… don't stop…"

"I promise, Félix." Hiccupping, Adrien touched his forehead to his brother's and felt the last breath leave Félix's body. He allowed himself five minutes to cry, before he stopped the tears and worked up the energy to tell his father. Looking up, he found a tiny black cat resting on his brother's jacket. There were also tears in the cat's green eyes.

"Are you Plagg?" Adrien whispered.

The cat met the tear-filled eyes of the boy Félix had tried so hard to protect. "That's me." He looked away. "I know your brother wanted to you be the next Chat Noir, but I'm not going to force you to do it. I can always find someone else—"

"I'm going to do it." When Plagg looked back at the boy, he found the boy's eyes filled with a fierce determination. "I'll be the next Chat Noir. I want to do something good, something that _I_ want to do. So don't worry. I will do it. But right now I have to find my father."

Adrien invited Plagg to hide in his jacket as he went calling for his father, telling him that Félix collapsed suddenly and that he might not be breathing. Adrien sounded panicked and worried about his brother, but he wasn't crying. The poor kid was acting for his own father, Plagg realized. He knew that it was bad from what Félix had told him, but seeing it personally was a completely different matter.

Gabriel hired an investigation to be held on his son's body, but the cause of death remained a mystery. The doctors said that they had found a hole in his intestine which had ended up poisoning him from the inside. However, they could find no external wound.

Plagg left Adrien alone for the most part as he dealt with Félix's death, both publicly and personally. During the public funeral, Adrien looked mournful in his black clothes, but he never cried. He only watched sadly while Félix's body was lowered into the ground, and when the painting of him, Félix, and their father was taken down and replaced by a newer painting of only his father and him. Only once it was just Plagg and him did he let the tears flow and released the emotions he was locking away. Plagg tried to help him, but he didn't really know how to deal with tears. That was usually Tikki's thing…

* * *

It had been a week since Félix's death and Adrien was now sitting at his desk working quietly on homework. Plagg was enjoying some of the cheese that Adrien had snuck up from the kitchen as he was watching the boy struggle with an equation on his paper that he just couldn't get right. Gulping the cheese whole, Plagg turned to face the boy.

"Hey, kid. Do you want to do try out your Chat Noir side?" he asked.

Immediately, Adrien's eyes lit up and he turned away from his homework. "Yeah! Let's go! What do I do?"

"You just have to say a phrase. Your brother liked to say 'Transform me' but you can say anything, really."

Adrien tensed at the mention of Félix, but he shook it off relatively quickly. Tapping two fingers under his chin, he thought of a phrase. "How about 'Claws out'?"

"Sure. Try it."

Standing up, Adrien called out, "Plagg, claws out!"

Green light surged up Adrien from his shoes to his hair, changing everything he wore to black leather. He grinned down at himself and noticed a tail flicking behind him. "Really, a tail?"

 _Come on, that's the best part!_

Adrien jumped and spun around. "Where'd you go?"

 _I'm in your head. Well, technically the ring, but when you transformed, we fused together. Adrien plus Plagg equals Chat Noir._

"That's so cool!"

 _Now, you can go out through the window, but please don't break anything. Ladybug prefers to run on the rooftops where it's faster. You might want to follow her lead._

Grinning, the new Chat Noir pushed open his window and looked at the ground two stories below.

 _If you use the baton strapped to your belt, it will be easier to get to the roof._

Following his advice, Adrien jumped out the window and used the baton to get to the roof. He experimented running on the roofs, finding it easier to run on all fours, and even added in an occasional flip while jumping from one roof to the other. Eventually he stopped and stood, panting, as he watched the sun creep below the buildings of Paris—the city he would now be helping protect. His fake cat ears drooped as he remembered how his brother had done this for _years_ without him knowing. He wished that he could tell Félix how awesome it was to run on the roofs, and how awesome it was to feel so _free_.

"Chat Noir? Is that you?" A girl's voice called out.

It took him a moment to remember that Chat Noir was now _him_. He spun around to find a girl about his age walking toward him from the other end of the roof. She was wearing a red and black spotted suit, and had her blue hair tied back into twin pigtails. Circling her gorgeous blue eyes, the color of the summer sky, was a spotted mask. That must be Ladybug.

Before he could respond, Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him and frowned. "You're not Chat Noir. Who are you?"

Realizing that she was talking about Félix, Adrien opened his mouth to respond but no words would come. This was probably the only other person in the world who actually knew his brother half as well as he did. She deserved to know that he was dead but saying the words out loud made them feel final in a way that even going to his funeral hadn't. Instead, Adrien turned away from her, his cat ears drooping even further. He flopped to a seat on the edge of the roof.

He heard Ladybug walk over to him and sink into a crouch next to him. "Are you okay?" she asked. Not _What happened to the old Chat Noir?_ or _Answer my question._ Her first question was to ask if he was okay. Somehow that kind of thoughtfulness from practically a stranger made his throat close up.

"No," he whispered honestly. "The old Chat Noir was my brother. He… died last week after the porcupine akuma attack. He passed on the miraculous to me, but I have no idea what I'm doing."

"I'm sorry," she said, and wrapped her arms around him. Adrien's eyes widened in surprised. He hadn't been hugged in years. He was slow but he wrapped his arms around her, too, and buried his nose in the crook of her neck. "I wasn't as close to your brother as you probably were, but he was a great partner. I wouldn't have survived as long as I have if he hadn't been here," she continued.

Adrien shook his head dejectedly. "How can I be half as great as him? He was always the one who looked out for me…"

Ladybug pulled back to hold Adrien by the shoulders. Her eyes were intense as they bore into his. "This time _we'll_ be the ones who look out for each other, okay? You and I, we're going to be a team. You'll help me, and I'll help you."

She smiled at him, looking as lovely as the sun, and Adrien couldn't help but smile back. "Okay. We'll be a team."

* * *

The first akuma attack happened the next day. Adrien pleaded sickness to get away from his tutors and quickly transformed into Chat Noir. Ladybug was already at the scene and she flashed him a smile before running over to meet him by the wall he was behind. It looked like the akuma was at a school.

"I'm pretty sure the akuma is in her hair clip," Ladybug told him. "If you distract her, I think I can snatch it up."

"Got it!" Adrien nodded before running out. Waving his arms, he shouted at the extremely pretty girl who somehow resembled a bug, "Hey! Over here, ugly!"

Roaring, the girl turned her attention to Adrien, shooting him with beams of light that turned anything it touched ugly. Yelping, Adrien scampered away on all fours. He ended up backing himself into a corner and tried to use his baton as a shield to ward off any more of the light beams.

"Chat Noir, use your cataclysm on the lights!" Ladybug shouted.

"How do I do that?" he shouted back, still spinning the baton.

"Just yell it!"

"Okay… Cataclysm!" The moment Adrien yelled that, his hand began glowing with dark purple energy. Using his other hand, he extended his baton up in the air and touch his glowing hand to the light. Cracks spider-webbed across the glass and light bulbs shattered. Adrien dropped to the ground with a roll as Ladybug set up a lamp in the middle of the room. With the night vision he had thanks to Plagg, he watched as the akumatized person drifted towards the light as if in a daze. Adrien plucked the hair clip out of her hair as she drifted by him, and tossed it to Ladybug, who crushed in under her foot to release the purple butterfly.

"No more evildoing for you, little akuma," she said as she caught it in her yo-yo. "Bye, bye, little butterfly!" Ladybug walked over to the lamp and threw it into the air, sending ladybugs to fix everything that had been broken by the fight, including turning back the poor akuma victim.

Smiling, Ladybug walked over to Chat Noir, setting a hand on his shoulder. "We do make a good team."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"Thanks, Ladybug." Smiling, Adrien stepped back, and held out his fist to her.

She gave him a confused frown. "A fist bump?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. You know, like a 'good job, mission accomplished' kind of thing?"

"Oh, okay!" Her face lit up and her fist met his.

"Mission accomplished!" they said together.

"Good job, partner." She winked at him and unclipped her yo-yo just as their miraculouses started to beep. Adrien watched her swing away, a smile dancing across his lips. He just might be able to get used to this. Yes, his mother was gone. Yes, his brother was gone. But he was still here and he would keep smiling, just like Félix wanted.


End file.
